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Sustainability Studies: Lead the Future

Learn from award-winning faculty how to create a more sustainable world

Our local and global communities need experts who can help meet current social needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. Studying sustainability at Colorado Mountain College offers you the tools to become one of those experts through engaging with local culture, organizations, and sustainability driven businesses.

Career Options

Develop knowledge and skills while making connections with internships and projects at CMC. With your sustainability degree, you'll be able to launch a career in:

  • Business management
  • Consulting
  • Energy policy
  • Environmental education
  • International development
  • Local, state, and federal government
  • Marketing and communications for the "green economy"
  • Public administration
  • Public lands management
  • Sustainable food
  • Urban planning

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Degree type Bachelor of Arts Sustainability

RELATED DEGREES: Sustainability Studies (BA) with Business Emphasis; Sustainability Leadership Certificate; Permaculture Design Certificate

120 Total Credits Earned (minimum 120 credits)

State Guaranteed General Education Requirements / minimum 31 credits
CMC Requirements / 8 credits
Bachelor of Arts Sustainability Program Requirements / 47 credits
Upper-division Electives, 300-400 level / 9 credits
Sustainability Program Open Electives, 100-400 level / 25 credits

Program Specific Courses

SUS 300 - Foundations of Sustainability
SUS 301 - Systems Thinking & Sustainability
SUS 310 - Ecology & Sustainability
SUS 311 - Integrated Sustainability Science
SUS 320 - Literature for Change
SUS 321 - Leadership, Ethics, & Social Responsibility
SUS 330 - Sustainable Economics
SUS 331 - Cultural & Place-Based Equity
SUS 410 - Conservation Biology
SUS 416 - Careers & Professional Skills in Sustainability
SUS 420 - Writing for Sustainability
SUS 421 - Fostering Sustainable Behaviors
SUS 430 - Sustainable Business
SUS 431 - Social Entrepreneurship
SUS 489 - Sustainability Capstone

SEE COMPLETE CURRICULUM

The Sustainability Studies (BA) is offered at:

Breckenridge: Mostly in-person,
Spring Valley: Mostly in-person,
Steamboat Springs: In-person & virtual,
Vail Valley at Edwards: In-person & virtual

SEE All CAMPUSES & LOCATIONS

Graduate Success

From left, Julia Farwell, Kevin Hillmer-Pegram, sustainability studies professor, and Heather Exby, CMC Spring Valley campus dean and vice president at the Spring Valley bachelor's graduation. Farwell was named outstanding bachelor's graduate during the ceremony. Photo Ed Kosmicki

Sustainability in everything she does

When it comes to sustainability, there may not be another Colorado Mountain College student who has done more to make a difference than Julia Farwell. Her five-year journey ended with a Bachelor of Arts in sustainability studies at Saturday’s commencement ceremony at the Spring Valley campus. Read more: Sustainability in everything she does

From left, Mikayla Curtis, Nikki Maline and Bailey Matthews have all landed jobs using the knowledge they gained from studying sustainability at CMC in Edwards. Photo Ed Kosmicki

Sustainability Studies to Sustainable Jobs

“One of the things I liked about getting my degree with CMC’s sustainability program,” Matthews, 32, said, “was that there was no preaching. Mercedes [Associate Professor of Sustainability Studies Dr. Mercedes Quesada-Embid] is brilliant. She teaches without judgment. She gives her students the power to decide. And it was affordable. I was able to graduate without a huge student loan.” Read more: Sustainability Studies to Sustainable Jobs